I guess I should've pointed out that when I watched it on Wednesday, I was without TiVo and watching it on a hotel TV, and I didn't know that it was 2 hours long, so I only saw the second half. But I figured everything interesting happened in the second half, and I was already spoiled for the first, so it was just the same.

But I just got back home and watched the whole episode, and this time, it was at least a dozen kinds of awesome. The stuff that seemed perfunctory turned out to be paced well, the parts where they just seemed to be cramming all the plot resolutions they could manage turned out to be given plenty of set-up. And all the character moments happened in the first half. Even when you know what's going to happen, it's just damn good TV. You just have to watch all of it.

I still think that Charlie's suicide was unnecessary; there are plenty of ways they could've gotten him out. I'm not buying the "it was necessary for his character arc" BS the producers are giving out. Still, I'm not complaining, because he'd gotten to be a useless character.

And also: I hate sounding like a HDTV snob, but I've got to say that watching it on a big screen made all the difference. The cinematography on this show is usually good, but in this episode it was just awesome. It really made the whole "epic exodus" thing work.